Research on the Private Salt Problem in the Qing Dynasty

Author: Zhang Xiaoye
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-10-01
Features:
1. The demand for fiscal revenue in Chinese history has had a certain objective necessity for strict control over salt, which primarily stems from the pursuit of salt taxes. Swiss scholar Ferdinand von Richthofen, when comparing the history of salt production in China and Europe, once stated that the history of European salt production could be divided into three stages. The first stage is the "Domain and Monastery Stage" from the 9th to the 12th centuries, characterized by salt production being granted by former emperors or rulers and playing a significant role in the economy of feudal lords. The second stage is the "Fiscal and Political Stage" after the 12th century, during which salt production became an object of fiscal revenue due to state monopoly or exclusive sales, holding great importance for the economic foundation of the state. The third stage is the "Economic Stage" beginning in the 13th century, where the characteristic of salt production was thriving trade, particularly evident in developed overseas trade and vibrant competition among countries and salt fields. However, if the segmentation method of European salt production history is applied to study ancient Chinese salt production history, then China would only have the "Fiscal and Political Stage." In his view, despite various developments, China consistently maintained a strong demand for fiscal revenue from salt production, as well as the stable development of salt production administrative institutions brought by this demand. Although this perspective does not fully explain the development of salt production in Chinese history, it sharply highlights the close relationship between salt and finance. In ancient China, revenue from salt was one of the important components of taxes for a long time. "Taxes are the economic foundation of the government machine," so almost every ruler in history sought to firmly control the salt economy in their hands, repeatedly exploring methods to maximize salt tax revenue. The increasing importance of salt taxes in government revenue can be seen from the proportion of salt taxes in government revenue. When Liu Yan served as the Salt and Iron Commissioner in the early Tang Dynasty, the annual income from salt taxes was 400,000 strings of cash. After his salt policies were implemented, the income from salt taxes reached 6 million strings of cash, accounting for half of the state's annual revenue. During the years of the Northern Song Dynasty, salt tax revenue reached over 7.15 million strings of cash. By the Southern Song Dynasty, "today's fiscal revenue, half comes from the sale of salt at sea." In the Yuan Dynasty, the highest salt tax revenue reached over 7.66 million ingots, usually accounting for more than half of the national revenue in cash and paper money. At that time, people believed that among important commodities that could provide fiscal and tax revenue, "salt was the most profitable." In the Ming Dynasty, "the salt tax system accounted for half of the state's revenue, as the annual income was only 4 million, half of which was paid by the people, and the other half came from salt taxes." Secondly, the salt tax system in the Qing Dynasty further developed compared to previous dynasties. The Qing Dynasty's salt tax system expanded its control range compared to the Ming Dynasty, such as the gradual merger of the Guangdong and Hainan Salt Taxation and Collection Commission into the Guangdong and Guangxi Salt Transport Commission, the development of numerous wells in Yunnan, and the expansion of the Shaanxi and Gansu salt production areas. By the late Qing Dynasty, the Liaodong Fengtian Salt Production Area also implemented the exclusive merchant and salt distribution system, indicating that rulers had incorporated the production and sales of salt in more regions under their management to increase fiscal revenue. The second point is that the Qing Dynasty had more detailed regulations on the boundaries and salt distribution. The Ming Dynasty stipulated that each salt production area had its own production and sales regions and were not allowed to encroach on each other. However, the Qing Dynasty further divided some large salt production areas into several smaller ones.